Mike Parker: Where has happened to the founders’ vision?
Tomorrow marks the 247th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Over the years, this document seems to have become a “classic” in the sense Mark Twain used that word. Twain defined a “classic” as something people praise but do not read.
Each time I taught the first course of freshman composition at East Carolina, one of the readings I assigned as an example of persuasion was the Declaration of Independence. While most of my students admitted they recalled reading this document in high school, few gave it any serious consideration until they reread it for my class.
Jefferson’s work has three main parts. The first part sets forth the basic principles those who founded this country believed to be true. The second part enumerates a list of grievances against the King and the English Parliament. The last part of the document is the actual declaration.
Our Declaration of Independence was the first time any nation established, as guiding principle, that rights of citizens do not come from government. Jefferson wrote, as the document was finally amended:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Please note that the Creator is the one who endows us with rights. Whenever we look to government to grant us rights, we are moving backward.
Those who founded this nation also made the next leap in thinking: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .”
Government exists for one reason – to secure the rights of the individual. Since government itself is the most dangerous threat to our rights, government must limit itself to keep from becoming a huge bureaucratic labyrinth that devours our liberties and substance.
“Consent of the governed” tells us that real governmental power comes from the people who are being governed. Therefore, government is not a self-existent God-like creature.
To make this point even more plain, the declaration reads:
“. . . that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
In one sense, we can alter or abolish our government every two to four years – at the ballot box. But if that power does not bring the change that the citizens of this country demand, then – according to Jefferson – we have the right to overthrow the existing government and put a new government in its place.
Years ago, protesters realized the judicial branch of government has become the real power. For that reason, those who cannot muster legislative support in their efforts to reshape our society bypass Congress and head up the street to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some years ago, a North Carolina judge ordered the state to spend $25 million to aid the Hoke County school system. Where does the state or federal constitutions empower judges to appropriate taxpayer money? The legislature did not fully obey the judge’s ruling. However, their disobedience stemmed from lack of funds – not from abundance of courage.
I am not sure what the citizens of this nation can do to restore the checks and balances. Since most folks have such limited knowledge of the history of our country, I doubt most care to make a change.
So, there we have it: Government of the apathetic, by the autocratic, and for the bureaucratic.
This type of government was not the one our founders envisioned.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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